SOUTH SHORE YMCA NATURE CENTER

Inquiry Education–What Is It?

Posted: Jan. 11, 2016

DSC02941“Once you have learned how to ask questions—relevant and appropriate and substantial questions—you have learned how to learn and no one can keep you from learning whatever you want or need to know.”

The philosophy behind the quote
This quote comes from a book from 1969 by Neil Postman and Charles Weingartner called Teaching as a Subversive Activity. The foundation of this philosophy is that inquiry is a dynamic activity that leads to meaningful learning. This can be extended and applied to any situation that arises in the life of a student from preschool through adulthood and beyond. The term “life-long learner” is directly related to this inquiry-based, critical thinking model.
Competent learners will experience:
• Self-confidence in their learning ability
• Pleasure in problem solving
• A keen sense of relevance
• Reliance on their own judgment over other people’s or society’s
• No fear of being wrong
• No haste in answering
• Flexibility in point of view
• Respect for facts, and the ability to distinguish between fact and opinion
• No need for final answers to all questions, and comfort in not knowing an answer to difficult questions rather than settling for a simplistic answer.